


There's No Place Like Home

by dralexreid



Series: Dr Piper Bishop [74]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:02:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29582073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid
Summary: The team head to Wichita to investigate a number of deaths in the aftermath of a storm. Meanwhile, work pressures cause problems for JJ at home.
Relationships: Dr Spencer Reid/Dr Piper Bishop
Series: Dr Piper Bishop [74]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972852
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

JJ silently closed the door and stepped back carefully, breathing in relief at the sound of silence from Henry’s room. “I finally got him down,” she said as Will leant against the doorway to their living room. Their date seemed like weeks ago from the bedraggled look on his face. He’d grown a scruffy beard which suited him, giving him a more rugged look than the clean-shaved, boyish face she’d met in New Orleans.

“He still feel warm?” he asked in his loving but tired drawl

“Uh, the ibuprofen must have kicked in,” JJ said, stepping into a one-armed embrace. He smelled like coffee and vanilla.

“Ah, it's that preschool,” Will cursed, tucking her into the crook of his neck, kissing the top of her blonde hair. “Place is like a petri dish.” He felt her pull away at the buzz of her phone and instantly they both felt a crushing weight on them. “I thought you had a few days off,” he sighed, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck, an obvious self-soothing gesture that JJ picked up. “What’s the case?”

“It's about some missing kids,” she answered, staring down at Hotch’s text.

“I guess you gotta go in, then, huh?” Will asked, walking away to an armchair.

“Please don't walk away like that,” JJ said, her voice soft. “We've talked about this. I know this is hard on you.”

“Henry, too,” Will added.

“On all of us,” JJ amended. “Look, if I had someone to cover my shifts, I would.” JJ sighed as Will refused to make eye-contact. “What if it was Henry?”

“Don't. It's not Henry,” Will retorted. “Henry's right in there.”

“What if it was?” JJ repeated. “You'd want someone out there looking for him.”

“Things were easier when you were at the Pentagon,” Will said, rubbing his face. He was tired, so very tired. JJ left the cell on the counter, dropping to her knees so her hands rested on his thighs, rubbing gently.

“I wasn’t helping anyone there, Will.”

“You worked normal hours and weekends off,” he said weakly. No excuse would equivocate for two missing kids and he knew that.

“Fine. I'll tell them I can't come in,” she acceded, standing up as she reached for her cell.

“No, don’t do that.” He knew her better than that. She would become restless and as much he wanted her at home, deep down he knew, he knew she belonged out there, protecting those kids.

“I was supposed to have time off,” JJ said, starting to type out a message. “Henry's not feeling well.”

“It's all right,” Will pressed. “You should go. I'll take care of it.” JJ let out a deep breath.

“Okay, well, call me if anything changes.”

“You know I will. Go, get that bastard and come home.” JJ smiled weakly, pressing a kiss to Will’s forehead before grabbing the bag that always lay in the corner.

* * *

Derek whistled as Piper and Spencer entered the conference room. “I told you we should’ve changed,” Piper grumbled, making a beeline for the coffee pot in the corner. Spencer took a seat beside Derek, reaching for one of the files Penelope had lain out and Emily couldn’t help the beam that spread on her face. Spencer wasn’t wearing anything very different from what he wore to work, clearly having opted for a dark maroon dress shirt and a black suit jacket on top. Piper, on the other hand, usually preferred comfort over appearance, explaining why she was actually wearing heels for once, just hidden under peach-coloured trousers, a silky white top tucked inside and large hoop earrings that didn’t hide inside her straightened brown hair.

“Date night, huh?” Emily teased.

“We were just lucky to get a refund,” Spencer said, clearly unsurprised by being called in for work.

“Which never happens in DC,” Piper scoffed, sliding a mug over to Spencer before taking the seat next to Emily as JJ walked into the room with Penelope. With Penelope’s regular flair for flamboyant outfits, it was unclear whether she had dressed for work or play.

“Good, everyone’s here. I’m going to get Hotch and we can start the briefing,” Penelope said in one breath before walking out through the other door and making a beeline straight for his office, ready to knock on the door…which was already open.

“You don’t have to be here,” Aaron reminded David.

“Ah, I get antsy when I'm gone too long. And the longer I stay away, the longer Piper will keep bursting into my mansion to cook for me.” Aaron gave David one of his rare smiles. “I know she cares, but it’s getting annoying.” Aaron nodded, passing him a file. “Oh, and thanks for the team's donation to ALS in Carolyn's name. She would have appreciated it.”

“Of course,” Aaron said. “So, how are you doing?”

“I'm ok. It's funny, though. We were divorced 20 years. And I never missed her as much as I do right now.” Taking that as a cue to interrupt, Penelope headed inside.

“Hey, you,” she greeted Dave softly. “Welcome back.”

“Good to be back, Penelope,” Dave said, cupping her cheek warmly in fondness before dropping it to his pocket.

“We're ready when you are, sir.”

The discussion was short, partly due to the limited details they had. The bodies of two unidentified boys were found near Wichita, Kansas, a week apart. Both were Caucasian and between the ages of 15 and 17. They were each found mangled in the aftermath of a tornado but that was not what had killed them. The M.E. determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head before the storms hit and the death blow in each case was in almost exactly the same spot. Both victims had limbs missing, the first missing his right leg, the second missing both his arms, but whether that was the unsub or the tornado was still unclear.

“A tornado would clear the air and give the unsub the privacy to do his thing,” Derek remarked.

“He may be using the storm as the body disposition modality,” Spencer said brightly. Piper tapped her pen once on the table before rubbing it between her fingers as she spoke.

“But that means he can’t control where the remains are disposed of,” she said thoughtfully. “Clearly, he doesn’t care about the body, just the right leg and the arms apparently.”

“Forensic countermeasure? Wind, hail, rain, Mother Nature destroys the crime scene,” David said, rubbing two fingers under his bottom lip.

“Or he wants us to think Mother Nature actually committed the murders,” Emily offered.

“What concerns me is the brief period between kills,” Aaron remarked as he paced with his file in hand.

“Only a week. He's moving fast,” Rossi said.

“We need to move faster. Garcia, get me I.D.s on all the victims.”

“I'm a gale-force wind,” Penelope obliged, grabbing her tablet and phone.

“Wheels up in 30,” Hotch remarked, ready to grab his bags and go.

“Oh, and pack for foul weather,” Penelope reminded them. “The forecast is nasty.” They all started grabbing their things and leaving to get their bags, Piper and Spencer leaving to change into tornado-oriented clothes rather than their date night outfits while JJ checked in with Will before they all eventually reconvened on the jet.

Piper refused to take off her seatbelt for the entirety of the flight and seemed to have taken Penelope’s warning to heart, wearing her thickest, woollen sweater, of course a beautiful maroon. She was seated cross-legged beside Spencer, her knee slightly nudging him.

Spencer wasn’t worried about turbulence at all, not bothering to acknowledge the belt existed after take-off. He’d changed his formal suit for a checked dark shirt and wool coat, a tie adorning his neck, crooked as always. His hand never wavered from Piper’s knee, even as he perused the file, although whether it was to comfort her or him, neither were sure.

Emily practically toppled into JJ as they sat on the couch, reviewing their own files. Derek had to brace JJ’s back to make sure neither of them fell off. “Nope,” Emily grimaced, getting up to take a seat that included a belt while JJ steadied herself.

Rossi sat in front of the two doctors, too focused on trying to calm his nerves to bother about the domesticity in front of him, clutching his armrest and the table as the plane jolted. Maybe he shouldn’t have come into work today. Usually, he’d be the first to prompt the conversation, or at least a sarcastic rejoinder.

“Central Plains,” JJ scoffed, fixing her hair. “Right in the middle of tornado alley.”

“If this unsub is using tornadoes as a forensic countermeasure, then Kansas certainly is the ideal setting,” Spencer provided.

“I’m guessing it’s not to do with the Wizard of Oz,” Piper grimaced, grasping at anything solid as the plane shook, including Spencer’s hand.

“Tornadoes do pose a significant threat,” Spencer said. “During this year's super outbreak back in April, there were 336 confirmed tornadoes in just several days, resulting in over 300 lives lost.” Derek simply gripped the table he was currently perched on, happy to see Penelope’s face on the screens.

“Hey. Tell us something good, mama.”

“Okay, so local P.D. Have ID'd your victims. I'm putting this all on your tablets if you'd like to follow along. First up is Jason Meredith, 16-year-old runaway from Garden City, Kansas. Mom said he took off over a year ago. Next up is Eric Janelle, 15-year-old foster kid from Wichita. He's been gone 3 weeks.”

“Well, adolescents generally run away from home for three main reasons: lack of parent-child communication, the inability of the teen to handle their personal problems and mistreatment of the teen by parents or other adults,” Piper summed up shakily, relieved the plan had stopped shaking, not realising she was still clasping Spencer’s hand. “Eventually, they face new problems like not having any money, food to eat, a safe place to sleep, or anyone to look out for them. So, they become desperate, doing anything just to meet their basic needs. I’m guessing they have records for petty theft, possession or prostitution?”

“You would be right,” Penelope said grimly. “Both of them have records for possession of a controlled substance and prostitution. This sucks.”

“That it does,” Piper grumbled.

“They were street hustlers. At-risk kids,” Derek remarked. “This could be a sexual predator.”

“An extremely violent one if the unsub is responsible for the damage done to the bodies, especially those missing limbs,” Spencer added.

“Well, now, he could be keeping the body parts for some sort of fetish,” Emily announced from her seat, making Penelope exclaim.

“Ew, no, that is my cue. I'm here if you need me with my binary machines that don't say gross things.” Penelope blipped out, leaving them with another quaky tremble of the plane. Spencer noticed Rossi make his comforting gesture to the Lord, the Son and the Holy Spirit before kissing his fingers.

“I didn't know you were a bad flyer,” he remarked calmly as he buckled his seat belt.

“I'm not,” Rossi protested, his grip on the arm of his seat claiming otherwise. “I just hate turbulence.”

“You know, turbulence very rarely causes planes to crash,” Spencer added, trying to help.

“That does me absolutely no good at the moment,” David deadpanned as the plane shook harder, making Piper yelp slightly. “Thank you.”

“What we really need to worry about are microbursts,” Spencer explained, suddenly on a roll now as his hand slipped out of Piper’s to mimic a microburst. “Sudden downbursts of air associated with thunderstorms. But a small craft like this, if we hit one of those at the wrong altitude—” His hands mimicked an explosion. “—pulverized.”

“Spence, believe me, I mean this in the kindest way possible,” Piper whimpered, staring at a fixed spot on the table. “But please stop talking.” Derek smirked at Spencer’s small nod and how he rolled his thumb over Piper’s knee trying to calm her nerves. But neither her nor Rossi, felt truly calm until the plane settled on the tarmac. Piper leaned her head back on the seat, releasing a deep breath while David closed his eyes in relief. David almost stumbled in his rush to get out of the jet as fast as possible and into a car. Derek and Emily opted to go see the disposal sites with the detective while Spencer and David went to check out the coroner’s office. Piper and JJ split up to take interrogation with Jason’s mother and Eric’s friend. Piper opted for the kid while JJ took the mother, both of them finding easy rapport with their interviewees. It seemed mothers had a radar for other moms while kids seemed to innately trust Piper.

Within an hour and a half, all the profilers reconvened to discuss their findings while the rain pounded the earth outside. Derek and Emily suggested they were looking for storm-chasers, impulsive, probably young, a loner with nothing to lose. Spencer relayed that both the kids had alcohol and dextromethorphan. Cough syrup, Piper identified with a small smirk, remembering the song. It was a cheap high with limited side effects. David continued, describing the lacerations, abrasions and massive internal trauma each victim had as well as how each limb was chopped off post-mortem, emphasising that the ligature marks were antemortem. But they still couldn’t figure out what he was doing with the limbs. Piper and JJ had come to the same conclusion regarding victimology. Each of the victims had a strong protective instinct and was looking out for somebody else besides themselves. Jason fought to protect his mother from an abusive father. Eric fought to protect his friend from the other foster kids. Eventually, Hotch dismissed them all to get some sleep. They’d have a long day tomorrow and JJ felt a twinge of sadness as she watched Spencer and Piper leave. They were lucky to have each other, a near-constant support network. But here in Kansas City, she felt more alone and distant from Will than ever.

He was right, she noted as she slipped into more comfortable sleepwear. Things were much easier when she worked at the Pentagon. Better hours, weekends off. They used to have regular date nights, cook for each other, take Henry out. But this past year had been tough on all of them. Keeping Emily’s survival had distanced her from everyone but Hotch and Will. Of course, Spencer came by often, but she always put her emotions aside to take care of him. And while she couldn’t tell Will what was going on exactly, she always had his support. And now, she couldn’t help feeling alone.


	2. Chapter 2

JJ closed the door behind her softly, padding over to Piper’s room. She wasn’t sure anyone else was authorised to give her advice. Emily was in a loving relationship with her cat, Sergio. Derek was still playing the single life. David was mourning. Aaron had a divorce. But she definitely had second thoughts after the sound of soft rock spilling out of the room. Taking a deep breath, JJ knocked twice and before her doubts swallowed her and the blonde went running back to her room, the door opened, revealing Piper in an old college sweater and dark sweatpants. “Hey, everything okay?” JJ shook her head glumly, afraid to voice her concerns. Piper looked down the hallway before pulling JJ in. JJ frowned at the situation inside, walls covered with crime scene photos, Spencer sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Spence, I need the room for a minute.” He swivelled his head around, seeing JJ standing there solemnly.

“You got it,” he said, standing up and pressing a soft kiss to Piper’s cheek before leaving. “I’m going to go irritate Derek.” The door closed shut.

“Can I get you something?” Piper asked. “Water? Something stronger?”

“No, but ice cream might help.”

“Homesick?” Piper asked with a sad smile, sitting her down before dialling for room service.

“Is this why the budget oversight committee calls Hotch in for so many meetings?”

“What are they gonna do? Fire me?” Piper asked, having put in the order. “Besides, it’s one tub of ice cream. I think the FBI can afford it.” JJ couldn’t help smiling despite her miserable mood. “What’s going on?” Piper’s voice was soft, calm, and it was moments like this when JJ understood exactly why she’d been recruited.

“Will,” she said, her voice quaking. “He’s alone, at home, with Henry and he’s sick and I shouldn’t have come but all I can think about are my boys.” Piper didn’t say anything just yet only rubbing circles on JJ’s back in soothing comfort. She’d learnt very quickly to listen first, speak later and it wasn’t just as an interrogation strategy. “I just—I miss him, and we kind of had a fight before I left. He’s so tired, and I just—I feel terrible for leaving him.”

“JJ, this is your job,” Piper said quietly. “But Will, he’s your life, your home. Like it or not, that man loves you with every fibre of his being and even if you don’t say it as often, I can tell you do too.” JJ held her head in her hands, just listening to Piper’s soothing voice. “How many times have you come home to Henry with his babysitter because Will had to take an extra shift? You both have horrifying schedules.” JJ laughed weakly.

“Yeah, we do.”

“And fights happen. Of course, they happen. And you should fight. Just as long as you make up afterwards.”

“You’re saying you and Spencer have fights?” JJ asked, her brow raised in incredulity.

“For the record, yeah. You know how many fights we’ve had because he can’t decide which exhibition he wants to go to? Or his terrible music choices? Jay, it is hard, of course it is. But it’s also absolutely wonderful sometimes.” Piper’s hand drifted to squeeze her into an embrace, rubbing her arm gently. “Have you called him?” JJ nodded, as the call for room service came out. Piper groaned softly as she got up to answer the door, grabbing the tub and thanking the young maid outside before taking a seat.

“Thank god for ice-cream.” Piper laughed, tossing her the tub and a spoon before taking a seat next to her.

“You said Henry was sick,” Piper asked. “Is he feeling better?” JJ played with her spoon, attempting to soften the chocolate ice cream.

“He had a fever. It went down when I left. And Will’s taking care of him.”

“Hey, kids get fevers, I’m sure Will’s got it handled.”

“Yeah, but I should be there. Helping him. Instead, I’m here, in your room, eating ice cream and feeling sorry for myself.”

“Okay, look. Will is just as much Henry’s dad as you are his mom and the two of you are great parents.”

“Yeah, but you always talk about your father being so cruel and I can’t help but—”

“You are nothing like my dad,” Piper said, her voice growing dangerous. “And I won’t have you talk about yourself like that.”

“But you always say he was so distant and I can’t help but feel that I’m doing the same thing with Henry.”

“It was never about his job, Jay. He was never physically distant, okay? He…” Piper couldn’t bring herself to say the rest. “He just didn’t care. You have never done that, to Will or to Henry. You and Hotch, you give Jack and Henry 110%, always. You make the most of the time you do have with him. That’s what makes you a great parent. Will too.” JJ nodded slowly, a soft, slow smile spreading on her face at his name.

“Yeah, I couldn’t do any of this without him. I think you were right that night. When we had that fight.”

“You mean when I yelled at you and you just stood there,” Piper said, still ashamed of her behaviour that night.

“Yeah, you were right. About me needing validation about being a good mom.” Piper seemed very uncomfortable with the turn this conversation was taking. “And I’m—I’m trying to feel more secure but this—this is freaking me out,” she confessed. Piper took JJ’s hand.

“You don’t have to be better than anyone. You don’t even have to be perfect. You just have to care and love unconditionally.”

“I just keep imagining you know, that each of these kids could be Henry,” JJ said, wiping at her eyes. “What if, what if he ran away from home, or what if I don’t come home one day?”

“First of all, valid concerns,” Piper said, sitting straighter as she faced JJ. “Second, Henry isn’t old enough to run away from home and you are that boy’s hero. And if you think I’m gonna let some storm chasing bastard break up your family, then you haven’t met me.” JJ couldn’t help grinning at Piper’s goofy smile as she tucked her petite body into hers, her warm sweater tickling her slightly. “You’re never gonna be perfect, Jay. But you have to know that that’s okay and that we are all proud of you anyway.”

“And to think, if Gideon hadn’t recruited you, you’d still be in Texas.”

“Actually, I’d still be in DC,” Piper realised, releasing JJ from the hug. “I was gonna take up an offer to teach at Columbia but clearly, hunting serial killers is truly my calling,” she said, making a laugh slip from JJ’s lips. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, cause I want that ice-cream back,” Piper said, lunging for the tub as soft rock kept playing and neither of them realised when they fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Piper walked into the precinct to see Derek and Emily missing, probably to check out the latest victim and rubbing the slight crick in her neck, she busied herself with pouring out a cup of coffee. “Who’s the victim?” Piper asked Rossi who was seated next to Spencer.

“Gary Dyson. 16. Ran away from Kansas City. Detective’s people ID’d him from the tattoos.” Piper’s eyes narrowed at Spencer’s curt response and how he refused to look up at her.

“From the tattoos?”

“Yeah, he took the torso this time,” Rossi said, his nose slightly wrinkled. Piper mirrored he expression, scrunching her nose in disgust.

“Why?”

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Hotch said, walking in. “Derek just updated me. Thunderstorms hit the area last night, no tornado though.”

“Track the storm, track the unsub,” Rossi grumbled.

“Forensic evidence has been washed away,” Aaron said, taking a seat beside JJ. “But behaviourally, it's the most intact crime scene we've encountered so far. It's the same blow to the head, but no cuts, no abrasions.”

“Except for the missing torso,” Piper said, still mulling over her question. _What would someone want with 2 arms, a right leg and a torso?_

“Tornadoes are extremely unpredictable and sometimes last only a matter of minutes before they dissipate,” Spencer explained. “The fact that he was able to leave his previous victims directly in the path of one is astounding.” Involuntarily, his gaze shifted to Piper, but she wasn’t listening, turning to the glass board behind her as Derek and Emily walked into their workspace with the detective.

“Why does it look like she’s doing a thing?” the detective asked Emily in a whisper.

“She’s doing a thing.” They watched her draw a triangular torso with two arms and a leg before stepping back and tilting her head.

“What if he’s trying to recreate someone?” she asked quietly. “If you were to take the missing pieces from all the victims so far, you could almost assemble an entire body. And if he’s a symphoraphiliac, it would explain why he’s stressed by the weather.”

“A symphora what?” Emily asked.

“Symphoraphiliacs— they're sexually aroused by disaster,” Piper explained.

“In this case, the weather must enhance his excitement,” Derek surmised.

“Except the longer he’s out there, there’s another transient kid in danger,” Piper said, starting to grow irritated.

“We’re ready for the profile,” Aaron said, as though that would calm her down. It did not. She volunteered to stay on standby, deliver the profile to Penelope and see if they could narrow down their unsub while the others delivered the profile. She sat in their workspace, staring at the board of knowledge, racking her brain for a way to track this guy down. _He’s a white male, mid-20s, mobile, travels great distances, some kind of RV or caravan, likely not his own. Perhaps it was stolen from someone if he was a street kid like his victims. He needs lots of ice and salt to preserve the body parts. Transient job. Uneducated but charming._ Her phone interrupted her train of thought and she picked it up, confused by the caller.

“Hey, Will, what’s up?”

 _“JJ isn’t answering my calls.”_ His voice sounded shaky, slightly panicked.

“She’s delivering the profile. Anything I can do? Is Henry okay?”

_“No, I mean, he was fine this morning but then he had this seizure and we’re at the hospital—”_

“Woah, Will, slow down,” Piper said, interrupting him. “He’s with the doctor now?”

_“Yeah, and JJ isn’t picking up the damn phone.”_

“Okay, look, she will be done in a couple of minutes. Just stay on hold for me, okay?” Piper moved out of the room, walking over to JJ and whispering something in her ear before passing her the phone and she left immediately, letting Piper take over her part of the profile and explain symphoraphilia and its relevance to the case. Hotch’s brows knitted together as he watched JJ’s retreating figure, deciding to ask her after they wrapped up the profile.

“Since when is a seizure fine?” JJ asked, outraged at the diagnosis.

 _“The doctor said it's normal for kids his age,”_ Will protested.

“But his fever broke,” JJ said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

_“Yeah. It's back again.”_

“Did you give him his medicine this morning?”

_“No. He was okay.”_

“Did he feel warm?”

“ _No_ ,” Will said, exasperated with JJ’s line of questioning.

“Well, you checked, right?”

_“JJ, of course I did. What are you trying to say?”_

“Nothing. I—Where is he now?”

_“He's resting. I'm just waiting for some paperwork and then we're gonna go home.”_

“Okay. I'll call you when my flight arrives.”

 _“You don't have to do that,”_ Will told her, just like he always did, because that’s what a supportive partner did, and because there really was no need. He just needed her to know, to support him back, even if it was just through the phone.

“Henry's sick. I'm coming home. Call you later.” She pressed the red button on her phone and slipped it into her pocket as Hotch turned a corner into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asked.

“It’s Henry, he—” JJ could barely get the words out. “He had a febrile seizure. Will had to take him to the E.R. Apparently, it's totally normal.” JJ couldn’t help herself as she imagined Will sitting next to her young son who was only 3, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Hotch, I have to go home,” she pleaded but Hotch nodded immediately.

“Of course. Anything I can do?”

“Can I borrow the jet?” JJ asked, knowing what the answer would be.

“I think the budget oversight committee might not appreciate my generosity.”

“Yeah, well, worth a shot, right?” JJ scoffed, making her way to borrow one of the precinct desktops.

“Check in and let us know everything's all right,” Hotch said on her way out. She walked with purpose in her gait, moving past the precinct break room that they were currently using, glancing at Piper spinning in her chair slightly, hugging her knees with one arm. Eventually, she stopped, hooking her chin on her arm as she watched Spencer purse his lips in thought next to her.

“Whatcha workin’ on?” He was silent, making Piper cross her brows. “Spence. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said abruptly. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“You haven’t paid me any attention all day,” Piper said, pouting slightly.

“Maybe it’s because we have a body snatcher to find somehow before someone loses a head,” he grumbled.

“Touchy,” Piper muttered. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“More like the wrong bed,” he snapped before biting his tongue.

“What was that?” Piper asked, eyes widening as it slowly dawned on her why he was mad at her. She completely forgot. Ever since Spencer and Piper had shared a room, Hotch had pointed out to the budget oversight committee that not a single complaint had been made about them. Which meant that they didn’t need to spend more money on another room’s expense. Which meant either Spencer or Piper didn’t have their own room. Which meant when JJ crashed in their room…Spencer didn’t have anywhere to sleep. “Oh no,” Piper whispered. “I didn’t—”

“I need the room for a minute,” he said, trying to mimic her voice. “I had to sleep in JJ’s room.” Thankfully, their voices were low by nature.

“I’m so sorry,” Piper whispered. “I swear, I will make it up to you.”

“It’s a little late for that,” Spencer grumbled. “It’s not enough that I didn’t get any cuddles this morning, I didn’t even get a cup of coffee this morning.” Piper snickered softly at his grumpiness.

“At least you didn’t have JJ snoring in your ear,” Piper countered, not quite realising what he’d just said. “And—hold on,” she said, replaying Spencer’s last sentence in her head. “You aren’t mad at having to sleep in JJ’s room.” Piper grinned at the slow flush creeping up on Spencer’s face. “You’re mad because you didn’t get any cuddles,” Piper teased him.

Spencer just flushed, returning to the crime scene photos. Folding her lips, Piper leaned her elbow on the table, leaning in as though she was just trying to get a better view of the photos even though they were memorised in the back of her head. But no-one heard Spencer’s breath hitch as Piper’s free hand grazed his thigh under the table, her nails trailing up his inner thigh. “I swear, I will make it up to you,” she said meaningfully. Now, how on earth was he supposed to find this killer? His gaze was stuck on Piper’s features, her warm, brown eyes shifting from his, her teeth pulling slowly on her own lip, her brow knitting together as she pulled the file closer to her. “He only has one leg,” Piper murmured, glancing back at her sketch on the board.

“Yeah, from the first victim. So?”

“So, people have two legs. Why do they have to be from separate people?” Spencer mulled over her question.

“You know, the vast majority of unsubs with this type of M.O. aren't driven by the killing,” Spencer said, their previous moment forgotten. “They're really fascinated by the body parts. Psychologically they exist in a realm where fantasy meets delusion. It's basically the perfect blueprint for the creation of a serial killer—” He caught a glimpse of Piper’s knowing face. “You already know this, don’t you?” Her tongue poked out slightly as she nodded. “I’m gonna get to the point. I think I know how this unsub may have gotten started.”


	4. Chapter 4

Spencer was slightly impressed by the speed with which Piper had gathered the team, even managing to pull Derek away from his lunch with one mass text. ‘Spencer’s got a hunch.’ Somehow, those four words had pulled them all like a magnet, watching him expectantly as the sun started to set behind them.

“All right, the first victim was found missing his right leg, the second, both arms, and the third had no torso.”

“Which leaves the left leg and head unaccounted for,” Piper shot out.

“We can assume the head would be the most difficult piece to find,” Spencer continued. “That part would have to fit an unsub's fantasy perfectly.”

“So, he’d most likely leave it for last,” Piper added before glancing at Spencer’s slightly irritated expression. “Sorry. I’ll stop now,” she said, ignoring Derek’s snicker behind her.

“Now, what that tells us is there's a victim out there we haven't found yet who's missing his left leg,” Spencer said, regaining his confidence.

“Or the unsub hasn't acquired it yet,” Hotch interrupted, easily concealing his smile.

“True, but most body part collectors evolve to this level, and in many cases they exhumes bodies for parts before they start killing,” Spencer said, almost deflating at being interrupted so many times. Derek took it as a cue to speed dial Penelope.

“ _P.G. at your service. Don’t let the name fool ya!”_

“Baby girl, you're on speaker. Garcia, can you look for grave robberies in Tornado Alley over the last 5 years?”

 _“Oh,”_ Penelope said, slightly disgusted by the task. _“That’s a shockingly big list. Who knew grave robbing was so on trend?”_

“Howard Carter?” Piper supplied.

“Burke and Hare?” Spencer tried.

“ _Okay, just because you two have those brains doesn’t mean you have to use them all the freaking time.”_ Piper shared a confused look with Spencer as Emily passed another request.

“How many of those bodies include teenage bodies?”

“ _None!”_ Penelope said happily.

“What about morgues and funeral homes?”

“ _Momentito…”_ Penelope obliged. _“Again, that is a list that should not be that big. Mostly stolen embalming fluid, though.”_

“It's often used like PCP, Garcia,” Derek pointed out.

“ _Okay, ew, why? You know what, don’t answer that. I really do not need to know.”_ Rossi glanced up at Spencer who was clearly about to give a long-winded answer before sighing. _“Okay, I am feeling optimistic about the youth of America. No teenagers involved here either.”_

“All right, try looking for thefts involving body parts, specifically left legs,” Spencer said finally, deciding a vague parameter might be best.

“ _Ok, eww, see this is why I can’t talk about my day at dinner…breakfast…lunch…”_ Penelope’s voice trailed off until it reappeared as a whisper. “ _Spencer, you scare me.”_

“Join the club,” Rossi said, making Spencer crinkle his nose at him.

_“A left leg was stolen off a body a year ago at the Riggio Funeral Home in Tulsa. They never found who did it.”_

“Garcia, what was the weather like in the area at the time?” Hotch asked.

_“Uh, thunderstorms and tornadoes. An F2 cyclone hit right around there, and then the robbery took place after they evacuated.”_

“Sounds like our unsub,” Piper scoffed.

“Wait, there's more. The guy whose leg was stolen; he was a 47-year-old father of 2 who died of leukemia.”

“That's a huge jump,” Dave remarked. “Preferential child sex offenders don't usually stray from their preferred age range.”

“That’s because this isn’t sexual,” Piper said thoughtfully before looking up to see everyone’s gaze on her. “I mean, we don’t have any proof that it is sexual.”

“So, if we take sex out of the profile, what changes?” Derek asked.

“Surrogacy,” Piper supplied instinctively. “He isn’t just assembling a body, he’s recreating it. His victimology changed from an old man to adolescents.” David shrugged at that.

“I wouldn’t call him old, I’m 58,” Dave confessed, and everyone glanced at him. “I walked into that. Continue,” he sighed.

“Whatever it is, this unsub won't stop until he finds a perfect head,” Aaron said thoughtfully. “That's the final piece to his puzzle.”

“Yeah, but how do we find him?” Piper asked miserably. “All we’ve got on his target is that he’s young, Caucasian, a brunet…” Piper trailed off, remembering the interview she’d had with Ethan’s friend. “Nobody messes with me 'cause nobody messes with him.” Emily squinted at her.

“Reid, she’s doing a thing again,” Emily murmured quietly.

“Ethan’s foster brother. He said that they looked out for each other, that he protected him from the others. A-And Jason ran away from home because his father was violent which you best believe I reported to Social Services—”

“Bishop,” Aaron scolded.

“Right, Jason’s mother said that he used to protect her too, ever since he was little.”

“So, they’re both protective,” Rossi surmised, picking up her hunch.

“What if our unsub is trying to replace someone he lost?” Piper asked, gesturing with her pen. “The human body as an organism is not the sum of its parts,” she quoted. “But rather the interrelationship of the parts. Each part has the same instinct. To protect people.”

“That kind of M.O. is rooted in loss,” Emily said slowly. “Maybe he lost his father?”

“Or an older brother,” Derek said quietly as JJ entered the room, pulling everyone’s glance to her crestfallen face.

“Hey, I thought you were out of here?” Emily asked first and Piper seemed to realise her predicament.

“Flights are cancelled 'cause of the weather,” JJ said tiredly, passing Piper her phone which she pocketed.

“How’s Henry?” Piper asked next.

“He’s headed home, they finally released him. Guess I’m stuck here a little longer.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Derek said absently, his gaze caught by a family that had just entered the precinct. “We might just be real close.” Aaron beckoned Piper to follow him as he left to greet the family.

* * *

Piper was good at child interviews. That didn’t mean she particularly liked doing them. Asking a child to relive their worst experience was heartbreaking to say the least. But she was aware that some of the others, despite their best intentions, could come off as insensitive or intimidating. Hotch was in another room with the father, JJ in a third room with the mother. Derek sat behind Piper, ready to step in when needed as she asked questions. Spencer couldn’t help watching on the outside. He knew he was meant to be narrowing down their suspect lists, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Piper, the way she slowly rubbed circles into Billy’s back, wrapping a blanket around him for extra warmth, though where she got it from was a mystery. Eventually, Derek stood up, leaving Piper with the young boy and Spencer instinctively turned around to his file.

“So, Billy said that a young white guy in an RV attacked him with a crowbar in the rain,” Derek said, JJ and Hotch joining him.

“He’s also changed his victim selection criteria,” Hotch said. “Shaun gets straight As, plays football, even volunteers at his church.”

“So, we were right, he’s picking up older brothers,” JJ concluded. “Or at least any kid who gives off that energy.”

“So, he wanted him so badly, he was willing to leave a witness?” Spencer asked confusedly.

“He's losing touch with reality and his delusions are starting to take over,” Piper answered, walking into the room, rubbing one of her eyes as she took her seat. “Billy’s with his mom now, talking to the sketch artist,” she announced for no-one in particular. “So, how do we find this surrogate?” Derek smiled, slightly scaring Piper, as he leaned forward to speed dial Garcia on their receiver.

 _“Holla at your girl,”_ Penelope greeted.

“Baby girl, I need those great big beautiful brains of yours.”

_“Jazz hands at the ready. Gimme!”_

“Okay, look at all the teenage male victims or tornadoes in the last 10 years,” Derek supplied. “Same geography as before.”

_“That would be male, 13 to 18— 42.”_

“How many of them had younger brothers that survived?” Piper asked wearily, sweeping her hair back with her hands.

_“Uh...10.”_

“We profiled he was probably a high-risk kid. How many of the survivors have a criminal record?”

 _“Ooh! I got two for you. That’s rare.”_ JJ pulled at a clean page from a notepad, ready to jot down Garcia’s information. _“First up is 27-year-old Justin Harris, had a DUI in 2008. Next is 22-year-old Travis James. Ooh, little troublemaker. Shoplifting, possession, and prostitution. Oh, my. And all when he was a minor.”_

“Okay, we know in all likelihood, he probably stole the RV he’s using,” Piper said, making everyone else wrinkle their face in confusion.

“We do?” Derek mouthed at Spencer, but he merely shrugged.

“But just double-check if he’s got a home address or vehicle registered in his name,” Piper said.

_“Nothing’s registered in his name, putting out some feelers for stolen RVs and I have sent a picture to your tablet.”_

“What do you have on Travis James?” Hotch asked.

_“Oh, my God. This poor kid. In 2001, Travis James lost his big brother Tucker and his mom Jan when a tornado hit the McCleary Trailer Park in Enid, Oklahoma.”_

“That’s just south of here,” Spencer remarked.

“So, he’s a local,” Derek surmised. “What else?” Just as Derek had asked Garcia the question, the lights went out, blanketing the team in darkness.

“Brilliant,” Piper muttered as the team glanced around and Piper felt a soft hand fall on hers, as though in reassurance. Although whether Spencer was trying to reassure her or himself, it was unclear.

“Hang on, Garcia. The power just went out,” Hotch updated her, glancing at the ceiling.

Piper remembered Spencer’s fear of the dark, lacing her fingers through his and running her thumb along the ridge of his hand. Backup generators took a minute to kick in and even when they did, they only had just enough light to see each other and read their files if they squinted.

“Garcia, I think we're good. Keep going,” Derek announced finally.

 _“Sometime before this evil tornado touched down, Travis, along with 5 other boys, testified against a one Roscoe Gulch,”_ Penelope announced. _“It appears that this Gulch character was a notorious paedophile in the area, and he was a resident of the same trailer park as Travis and his family. I'm looking at police reports now. It looks like brother Tucker had confronted this Gulch person lots of times. He even broke the creep's nose once.”_

“Good,” Piper muttered.

“He was protecting his little brother,” Derek realised, rubbing his face with one hand.

_“Ohh. And then the plot thickens. According to a statement from Travis, right after Gulch was acquitted, he and his brother went to Gulch's mobile home.”_

“Oh, that doesn’t sound good,” Piper remarked, pulling her feet up to hug her knees.

_“Amen. A fight ensued. Travis said it was like his big brother went crazy.”_

“He was upset about the acquittal and dealt some justice of his own,” Hotch surmised, his voice neutral as always.

_“Yeah, Travis heard tornado sirens and said he hid in some drainage pipes when the tornado hit. After that, Tucker and Gulch somehow got trapped in the mobile home when the twister hit. Travis said he saw the mobile home get swallowed up by the tornado. And when he came out there was nothing left.”_

“Garcia, how old was Tucker when he died?”

_“17. He was found in pieces. It took his DNA and dental records to I. D. him. Travis went into foster care and he was reported missing in 2003.”_

“He ran away,” Derek sighed. “10 years ago his brother got ripped apart, and now he's trying to put him back together.”

“Okay, I love my brother,” Piper said. “But that is going way too far.”

“What, you wouldn’t kill people and take their body parts for your siblings?” Derek said, a small smirk playing on his face.

“Oh, like you’d do the same for Sarah,” Piper chided.

“The question is why start killing now,” Derek said, avoiding Piper’s retort.

“Garcia, send me current weather reports for the area, including radar images if you have them,” Aaron announced.

“ _Ask and you shall receive. It is on your tablets.”_

“With the weather in the area, he's going to be so excited, he won't wait,” Hotch said, watching Spencer stand up and move to observe the whipping rain outside. “He'll take the boy to the closest area with the most activity.”

“That's right around here, just southeast of us,” Derek said, pointing to his tablet. Thunderstorms crackled outside and Piper’s brows knitted as she observed her partner.

“It’s Frankenstein,” Spencer murmured, confusing everyone as he turned around. “The unsub isn't just trying to put his brother back together; he's trying to bring him back from the dead. He believes that tornadoes have the power to take life, so conversely, they should have the power to restore it,” he explained, noticing Piper sigh.

“We’ll pick up Rossi and Prentiss on the way,” Aaron announced. “We should stay mobile, get ahead of this guy.” The others filed out, Piper and Spencer following behind, making an unspoken promise to stick together. The seven profilers split up into two SUVs. Derek in one with Emily, Piper and Spencer; Hotch in another with JJ and Rossi, police sirens echoing as they drove to the largest tornado activity while Garcia updated them on her latest findings.

_“Sir, I found your trigger. A year ago, a tornado ripped through a cemetery near Tulsa. One of the 53 graves that was disturbed was that of Tucker James.”_

“His brother was killed by a storm, then his memorial was destroyed by one,” Rossi pieced together. “Now he's using both to build a memorial of his own.”

“Now that he has that boy's head, the delusion will completely take over,” Emily added.

“Garcia, those storm chasers at the university we talked to, they should be out in full force,” Rossi said, addressing their beautiful, precocious tech analyst. “I'm sending you their number now. Tell them to be on the lookout for the unsub's RV.”

“And, Garcia, patch into their radio chatter,” Aaron added. “They'll know where the storms are.”

“On it, my pretties.”

“We need to head into those areas with the most precipitation,” Spencer added, ducking in between the two front seats that Derek and Piper occupied, Emily craning her neck to see Piper’s map on the tablet.

“Make a right at the next intersection, should be on Pawnee Road,” Piper relayed.

“Hey, how exactly are we supposed to chase this storm?” Derek asked, his tone bitter as he focused on the road. He hated driving in the rain.

“The unsub won't actually chase the storm,” Emily said, recalling her meeting with the storm chasers. “To get close to it, you have to get in front of it. It's a little like playing chicken.” Piper’s eyebrows knitted together, both at the reference and the map.

“It’s frozen,” she muttered, fiddling with the map. “I’m not getting any updates.”

“I’m frozen up too,” JJ agreed from the car ahead. “Weather must be affecting the upload.” Piper abandoned the map on the tablet, pulling out her phone instead.

“Cell towers are down too,” Piper announced.

“Garcia, we need you to guide us into the storm,” Hotch said, his voice a few decibels too low to be a yell.

“I will be your eyes and ears, sir,” Penelope said brightly but none of them were very comforted by it. They were driving into a tornado blind.


	5. Chapter 5

_“Okay, guys, a twister has been spotted at Rose Hill, just south of your position. The storm chaser dudes are calling it a landspout.”_

“We don’t want that one,” Spencer announced hurriedly. “Landspout tornados are relatively insignificant.”

“Garcia, look for hook echoes on your monitor,” Emily offered and Piper looked back at her. “What, I can know things too?” She caught Derek raising his eyebrow. “Fine, the storm chasers told me what to look for. Just do it,” she grumbled, aiming a kick at Piper’s seat.

“Kay, hook echoes. Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna do that. Just tell me what they are.”

“They're swirling hook-like radar signatures that look surprisingly like what you'd expect them to,” Spencer said, obstructing Emily’s path to the back of Piper’s seat.

“No, I don't see anything like that.”

“They'll likely form in those red and violet areas on the map,” Emily tried helpfully.

“I don't see anything that looks even remotely like that.”

“Okay, they shouldn't be too far from our current position. He's close,” Piper supplied.

“Oh, God. No, wait, wait, yes! Yes, I see it. Oh, that's gotta be it.”

“Where, Garcia?”

“Oh God, no.”

“Pen, what happened?” Piper asked slowly, her heart leaping into her throat.

“There are two of them.”

“We’re gonna have to split up,” Aaron remarked on the monitor. “Which way, Garcia?”

“Uh, okay, half of you can stay in your current heading. The other half take a…right on Meadowlark Road.”

“Morgan, take Meadowlark Road. We’ll keep going.”

“You got it,” Derek replied, turning violently when he almost missed it. A police car trailed their SUV as it raced ahead of a storm they couldn’t see. Within minutes, Garcia was back, affirming that the four of them were closer to the RV than Hotch and Rossi, telling them to make a left on Prairie Creek. Emily and Piper clutched the door handles as Derek swerved down the wet road. Thunder crackled around them, lightning flashing as Derek drove faster, speeding down the road until Spencer noticed the house.

“Turn up ahead,” he yelled out and Derek obliged, lights flashing. Emily and Piper barely waited for the car to stop, ripping off their seatbelts and opening doors before Derek could turn the key to kill the engine. Both women sprinted forward, guns and torches raised at Travis hunching over a thrashing body.

“Travis James, FBI!” Emily yelled out, her ponytail whipped by the wind. “Put the weapon down!”

“I can’t do that!” Travis howled, pressing the axe to Shaun’s neck.

“Yes, you can!” Piper shouted. “He has a brother, just like you, who still needs him, Travis! You have to let him go!”

“I said get back!” Travis yelled out. “Are you hard of hearing or something?”

“Travis, Tucker wouldn’t want this,” Emily cried out. “He would want to protect you like he did with Roscoe Gulch.”

“That bastard was guilty!”

“Just put the weapon down and we’ll figure this out!” Piper exclaimed, the four of them flanking each other. The wind was being whipped into a frenzy and Spencer’s eyes widened as he saw the swirling tornado approach. Travis noticed it too, realising it was too late and dropped his axe, stimulating the team into action with his single movement. Emily raced to the kid, holding a palm out as Piper ripped out a knife from her ankle for her to cut him free. Her eyes narrowed, squinting at Travis walking away into the tornado and yelled out as she started to run, only to be held back by Spencer.

“We have to take cover!” Spencer yelled.

“He’s going to kill himself!” Piper shouted back, struggling to get out of his grip, almost free until Derek dragged her back too until she saw the wind whisk Travis’s bodies away. She stopped fighting and Spencer pulled her into the tornado shelter, Derek slamming the door on top shut as the storm brewed to its peak outside. Derek took the last of the steps down and glanced around at his team. Piper was on the floor, breathing hard, her eyes closed in defeat. Spencer slid down next to her, clearly restraining his urge to yell at Piper, breathing just as, if not, harder. Emily had an arm wrapped around Shaun at the very end of the shelter. In her head, Piper couldn’t help replaying Travis’s last moments. Picking up the mismatched body. Walking straight into the tornado. His firmly held belief that his brother would come back.

“Stop it,” Derek warned, taking a seat on the steps as Shaun fell asleep in Emily’s arms. “I know what you’re doing, kid. You couldn’t have saved him.”

“And it would mean we were stuck in here with a murderer,” Emily added unhelpfully. Derek glared her down.

“I could’ve saved him,” Piper protested weakly, convincing no-one.

“We can’t save everyone, Pipes,” Spencer said quietly. “Especially when some people don’t want to be saved.”


End file.
